Third Round of Proposition 41 Funds Available for Veteran Housing and Homelessness

December 20, 2016

The Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), in collaboration with the California Housing Finance Agency and California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), recently announced the availability of approximately $75 million in funding for veterans and their families under the Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Program (VHHP).

This is the third round of funding available to communities throughout California through the Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) pursuant to Chapter 727, Statutes of 2013 and Proposition 41 (2014).

Approximately $65 million is available for the development of affordable multi-family rental housing containing permanent supportive housing units, transitional housing units or affordable housing units. Awards will be made to qualifying developers and nonprofit entities to construct, acquire, rehabilitate, or preserve affordable multi-family housing for veterans and their families.

As part of the funding, and in accordance with Chapter 44, Statutes of 2016, $10 million is reserved for the construction or rehabilitation of transitional housing or shelter facilities that provide services to homeless veterans. Funds will be awarded to programs or counties that demonstrate need, focus on long-term solutions, include mental health and addiction treatment services, and have proven long-term effectiveness.

California voters approved $600 million in 2014 to build housing for homeless veterans. HCD, CalVet, and the California Housing Finance Agency were tasked with jointly managing and developing the guidelines for how the funds would be expended.

The objective of the VHHP is to develop housing for our veterans at risk of homelessness or experiencing temporary or chronic homelessness. To date, $176 million has been awarded to 45 developments through the first two NOFA application cycles. When complete, these developments will provide more than 1,500 housing units for veterans, including 900-plus units for homeless veterans.

Additional funds will be released annually until all of the $600 million is exhausted, with an objective of addressing the housing needs of low-income veterans and reducing veteran homelessness in California. Geographic distributions intend to focus on areas with the largest concentrations of veterans in need. For more information about VHHP and this NOFA, please visit www.hcd.ca.gov/fa/vets.

For questions regarding this NOFA, please contact Evan Gerberding with HCD at (916) 204-9310 or Thora Chaves with CalVet at (916) 653-2547.